Gun control and gun violence has been a subject that’s been well-covered at this year’s Sundance. There’s Dark Night, Under the Gun and shorts such as Speaking is Difficult, but none bring home the aftermath of a mass shooting event like Newtown.

That might be because there hasn’t been an event quite like Newtown in US history. The name itself has become synonymous with gun violence after 26 people, 20 of whom were children, were killed at Sandy Hook elementary school in December 2012.

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Unlike Under the Gun, a polemic that seeks to change views on gun control, Newtown has survivors, their families and their community bearing witness. The victims’ stories and lives are told, from Daniel Barden, a dead seven-year-old who is central to Under the Gun’s narrative, to Dylan Hockley, a six-year-old also murdered that day in December.

Director Kim A Snyder, of Welcome to Shelbyville, places narrators in front of a clinical backdrop that leaves all the focus on them and their stories. Even without the minimalist aesthetic, there’s no way you could take your eyes off the talking heads.

The medic who was a first responder on the scene talks about the day itself, how she initially thought there was only one victim who would survive their wounds, before she realized the full scope of the shooting. The priest who conducted dozens of funerals for the school children recalls his work.

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The Barden’s neighbors talk about their life before the shooting (weekly pizza nights) and after it devastated their town (stilted, difficult exchanges). Police officers and the town’s doctor shake through their testimony, with shock, yes, but also palpable disgust.

We see parents petitioning politicians in Congress; brothers and sisters protesting, but most affecting is the sight of parents trying to carry on and make sense of what has happened.

Mark Barden and other family members affected by the shooting form a group – Sandy Hook Promise – in order to raise awareness of gun violence and also stop something like this happening again. Some become unlikely activists, while others try to put their lives back together and regain some sort of normalcy. But the thing that comes through most in the documentary is that the event will never ever leave them or the community, and should not leave us.

Snyder uses her camera as a friendly ear and as an eye to bear witness. Gun control and gun rights are clearly in the mix but the truth about what happened and why it happened are the mystery her film scrutinizes. It’s a shocking and compelling piece of work.